Fabric structures are used in many applications ranging from one person tents to venues designed for holding events for hundreds or thousands of people with stages, displays, exhibitions, etc. Structural integrity, protection from the elements, portability, water drainage, and safety in variegated conditions of use are significant concerns.
The inventor of the present application has filed patent applications for fabric structure systems in the past that teach novel fabric structures and other elements of the applicant's popular SaddleSpan™ and Matrix-Marquee™ tents, including use of keder rails and keder strips for attaching fabric membranes to other membranes when forming fabric structures (see CPA 2623411; 2731430; and 2790239). However, there remains a need for additional versatile, aesthetic, structurally sound, modular fabric structures.
Hyperbolic paraboloid roof shapes are advantageous due to aesthetic appeal and functionality, including inherent structural and drainage advantages. While various prior designs for fabric structures teach hyperbolic trapezoid roof structure, for instance Carroll in U.S. Pat. No. 2,963,031 teaches a structure having a locking system for tensioning a hyperbolic paraboloid fabric membrane roof, there remains a need for a versatile system for erecting such structures of different sizes for different applications.
In the present application, the inventor provides a fabric structure having two telescoping apex legs and two shorter base legs connected by four beams having a fabric membrane attached to them to form a tensioned hyperbolic trapezoid fabric roof. The legs, beams and fabric membrane may be assembled for erection and disassembled for transport. Fabric wall membranes are provided that may be conveniently tensioned for aesthetic appeal and structural integrity. Keder rails formed on legs, beams or added purlins (used herein to refer generally to horizontal members that may be load bearing or not) are provided to facilitate ease of attachment to and tensioning of fabric membranes. The system allows for relative ease of erection of safe, sound fabric structures of various sizes in many conditions, including indoors without anchors, or outdoors with undulating ground and severe weather conditions.